So I was doing some work with my mare on the lunge line today.. shebwas not happy, was reactive, and just saying "no". I thought "hmmm... she isn't typically like this during groundwork or lunge line stuff, maybe I should take it off ". ..
Now, part of me was struggling with this because she was being "naughty" (I rarely use that term... but there was a whole lot of "no ma'am " happening today), and if I took it off, was I allowing her to get away with this not-so-great behavior?? Well, I trusted my gut, and took her rope halter and line off. Initially she was just walking around sniffing, only paying attention to me about 10% of the time. I let her sniff then asked her to move forward.
To my very pleasant surprise, my mare did a lovely trot and canter circle around me, even kept it about a perfect 20m circle. She listened to my voice cues, my body language. It was awesome!!!! Maybe she was annoyed i wasnt "trusting" her and today needed to be the day I let her work at liberty!!! It was so lovely!!
I finished our time off by putting her back on the lead line and asking her to trot over some ground poles. This time, she was soft, nice and forward, stretching forward and down. I wanted her to finish on the lunge line in a positive light, and she totally did.
Today was a huge win for us. My mare is definitely showing me that I can trust her and ask her for more than I have realized!